1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems, and more specifically, to apparatus, systems and methods for retaining expansion cards within the chassis of information handling systems.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems (IHSs) often provide expansion capabilities in the form of peripheral or expansion cards, such as PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), PCIE (PCI Express) or the like. Printed circuit boards or motherboards of IHSs may be designed with bus interfaces, such as ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) and EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture), into which expansion cards for peripheral expansion devices, such as hard disk controllers, tape controllers, modems and other I/O controllers, may be connected. A user or service technician may add or replace a peripheral expansion device, such as a modem, by simply adding a new modem card or replacing the old modem card attached to the bus interface with a new modem card.
As the trend in the manufacture of IHSs moves toward chassis of various sizes and orientations, apparatus and systems utilized to retain expansion cards within the IHS chassis may require modification. Currently, low profile IHSs, including industry or IU servers, are designed with limited chassis dimensions to fit within a confined space of a rack or rack system, such that another device may be placed above and/or below the IU server in the rack. Thus, the space or volume (e.g., swept volume) within the chassis to allow for the installation or removal of an expansion card may be limited as compared to that of a typical IHS chassis. Despite the manufacture of smaller or thinner form factor systems, customers may still desire options that allow for standard size cards, PCI and/or PCI and PCIE for example, to be utilized with such systems. Furthermore, maintaining attachment of an expansion card to its corresponding connector within a chassis during a shock event while still allowing ease in installing and removing the cards may present a challenge.
Typical apparatus and systems for retaining expansion cards allow for mounting an expansion card in a vertical orientation relative to a motherboard. In addition, due to size or height constraints of IHS chassis, current apparatus or systems to retain expansion cards may employ additional components such as risers, for example, to secure the cards to their connectors. However, the use of additional components and apparatus/systems for vertically mounting expansion cards may prove costly and prohibitive to achieving a more compact form for IHSs. Thus, a need exists for improved apparatus, systems and methods for securely retaining expansion cards within chassis of limited size.